Freedomtown

Freedomtown was a refugee camp for Cubans who came to Miami, Florida during the Mariel boatlift of 1980. Cubans who were not granted admission to the United States were kept in the camp, which became a "tent city" under a highway. The camp consisted of an administrative office, a mess tent for meals, a infirmary tent for the sick and infirm, and multiple tents with bunks for the refugees to reside. On 11 August 1980, the Freedomtown riots broke out in response to the US government's refusal to give green cards to its residents, and former communist official Emilio Rebenga was killed by Tony Montana during the riots. Between 1980 and 1983, the camp was decommissioned, with its residents either being granted US citizenship or deported back to Cuba. Its decommissioning was done poorly, and it was full of vacated, half-assembled tents along with plenty of discarded newspapers and glass bottles.